But that doesn’t matter in K-pop, she added, because “everything can be touched up.” During a May 2014 Reddit AMA, when asked if she liked K-pop, Wolfgang replied, “I hate it.No one is an actual artist.” She also pointed out that songs, dance routines and clothes are handed to performers who have “little to no artistic input,” and that fans favor certain groups because of their look, “not because they are talented.” But in the Plasticine world of K-pop, looks are just as manufactured as talent: Before their formal debut, both male and female artists are often forced to undergo cosmetic surgery.As they are compared to Barbie dolls, they sing, “I don’t feel good.It’s weird because of you.” No doubt this is a message directed at the public, and the industry.In fact, the scandal at the 25th Seoul Music Awards last January involved co-host Jun Hyun Moo making EXID member Hani cry onstage after he playfully teased her about having a boyfriend by saying that she looked , or “elegant,” a play on her boyfriend’s name, Junsu.In other cases, it’s not etiquette that’s required so much as absolute submissiveness to male authority.

But when it comes to their Korean counterparts, talent is optional. “They asked me to sing, and I’m the best singer,” ex-TAHITI member Sarah Wolfgang, formerly known as Hanhee, said of her recruitment in a recent interview.In September 2013, Goo Hara of KARA went on the variety show “Radio Star,” where the male hosts relentlessly badgered her about rumors that she was in a relationship.At one point, host Kyuhyun threatened to ruin her, and she broke down crying.These last two details are crucial, because in a highly Confucian society like Korea, when chat forums start to ring with rumors that a female pop star is dating or that she has acted impertinently, that’s the knell of her career.For instance, when the hugely popular group Girls’ Generation (SNSD) batted their eyes at a boy band during a television variety show in 2008, this prompted fans to publicly humiliate them at that year’s annual Dream Concert, where audience members typically show performers their support by creating oceans of light with glow sticks.

The hosts then demanded that her bandmate, Kang Ji Young, make coquettish faces for them.